Lawrence Taylor was great on the field for the Giants, though he admittedly struggles to reach such a standard off of it. / Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

by Nate Davis, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Davis, USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets quarterback has had negligible impact amid limited opportunities to help his 2-3 team this season. If he's harboring any frustration over his role as struggling Mark Sanchez's backup, he's been careful to mask it.

And now this.

Though Tebow never strays from the high road, a Hall of Famer took a low one while offering him some advice on Showtime's Inside the NFL on Wednesday night.

During a segment called "Dear Insiders" - often a tongue-in-cheek bit near the show's end - host James Brown asked Taylor a made-up question which read: "(Dear Lawrence,) Like you, I'm a clean-living, hard-hitting, good ol' southern boy trying to make it in The Big Apple. What was the secret to your success? Thanks in advance, (signed) Tim from the Meadowlands."

Taylor, who appeared on the show to promote an upcoming NFL Films documentary about his life called The Life & Times, suggested sex as a cure-all.

"I would say he would have to go to church, Temple -- wherever he goes -- find a nice girl," said Taylor, who added some more colorful language. "I mean marry her if he has to ... but he's got to get some of that pressure off."

Brown and co-hosts Phil Simms and Cris Collinsworth reacted to Taylor's response with some mixture of chuckles and groans with Simms (Taylor's New York Giants teammate for 13 seasons) saying, "As you soon as you said Tim Tebow, I knew this was not gonna be good."

Tebow has been the punchline of many jokes because of his decision to remain a virgin until he marries.

The question Brown asked was clearly written for a provocative response, and it elicited one.

Earlier in the show, Brown did ask Taylor about his May 2010 incident with an underage prostitute. In 2011, Taylor pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a 16-year-old prostitute. Both counts are misdemeanors.